Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations (Archived)

fintail

Makes one wonder about the viability of homeschooling with that last bit, which has long been joked to have tenuous at best education quality and awkward social development. I think here in WA, many schools are open to in-person at least part-time, and special needs kids can go fulltime (my sister is a special ed teacher and has been working at school the whole time - she supports it, as school is by far the center of life for these kids). Maybe if vaccines could be prioritized for teachers and there'd be less ability for the rich to buy priority in some areas, things could open faster. Also might be reason to leave CA, too, unless one loves the weather or has an amazing job they are married to, there might be greener pastures (just please don't come to the PNW, we're full )

The college sports stuff is a bit different, IMO anyway, too much emphasis on that as a basis for scholarships. If he needs a scholarship, maybe his grades can help him, or family, or loans. Everyone else has to use those routes. (don't get me wrong, it stinks his dream might not be attainable in this growing dystopia).

abacomike said:

What these kids are missing in terms of learning basics as well as interpersonal relationships will never be made up in coming years. Truly pathetic.

driver100

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

For every invention or new idea....there are the naysayers who say it won't work. I am sure when Bezos said I am going to have a warehouse and sell everything possible and I am going to deliver it to the persons home for free the next day.....people said what a ridiculous idea, that will never work!

tjc78

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

It could be done. There could also be a sensor in the filler neck that could immediately notify the idiot.. err operator that they are putting the wrong fuel in.

nyccarguy

fintail said:

Makes one wonder about the viability of homeschooling with that last bit, which has long been joked to have tenuous at best education quality and awkward social development. I think here in WA, many schools are open to in-person at least part-time, and special needs kids can go fulltime (my sister is a special ed teacher and has been working at school the whole time - she supports it, as school is by far the center of life for these kids). Maybe if vaccines could be prioritized for teachers and there'd be less ability for the rich to buy priority in some areas, things could open faster. Also might be reason to leave CA, too, unless one loves the weather or has an amazing job they are married to, there might be greener pastures (just please don't come to the PNW, we're full )

The college sports stuff is a bit different, IMO anyway, too much emphasis on that as a basis for scholarships. If he needs a scholarship, maybe his grades can help him, or family, or loans. Everyone else has to use those routes. (don't get me wrong, it stinks his dream might not be attainable in this growing dystopia).

abacomike said:

What these kids are missing in terms of learning basics as well as interpersonal relationships will never be made up in coming years. Truly pathetic.

I can tell you 1st hand that this distance learning garbage doesn't work. Our school district has zero plans to re-open full time this year even if everyone gets vaccinated. My kids are definitely getting the short end of the stick and developing very bad work/study habits because of it.

stickguy

With diesel, you really can’t change nozzle shape since it wouldn’t work with existing cars.

sda

abacomike said:

As most of you know, my grandson (the 20 year old) is finishing up his sophomore year at Riverside City College and is currently hoping to transfer into a Division I school for his junior year. His arm has healed up nicely and he is training with a private coach about an hour and a half drive north of where he lives in the Coachella Valley. He drives up there three times a week. They have him pitching again - his speed is back up to 89 mph and getting stronger. California has made it almost impossible for athletes to get scholarships because everything is shut down. He finished his winter semester with a 3.8 GPA, but his chances of getting a scholarship to a division I school are slim to none due to the situation in the State of California.

I feel so bad for him - he was on his way to a great education until last March - and now everything is in "virtual" mode.

My other grandson who has Asperger's, has been home alone for all these months. The worst thing for a teenager with Asperger's is to be alone with no social stimulation. I don't see how kids in California and many, many other States that have shut down in-person education can possibly recover from this mess. As a former teacher, School Principal and Private School Headmaster, it is criminal what they are doing to kids. At least many private schools are open - so in order to maintain high standards in education, you have to send you kid to a private school at $10,000 - $20,000 a year or higher. Who has that kind of money sitting around in this pandemic?

What these kids are missing in terms of learning basics as well as interpersonal relationships will never be made up in coming years. Truly pathetic.

Mike, you hit the nail on the head, truly pathetic. My daughter lost out on the last half of her high school graduating year. No prom, recognition ceremonies, graduation gatherings. Now she is in her freshman year of college, studying nursing, and all her classes are virtual. No interaction with people, missing the college experience. She is frustrated and struggles not getting depressed. I know her experience may pale to others, but I really feel for our young people who are affected by this mess.

fintail

I believe it. I have a 10 year old niece, in a district now back to in-person instruction, on some hybrid model, but also allowing the option of remote. She wanted to stay remote, and my sister allowed it for some reason, probably because my mom is there helping/providing free childcare, and my sister and her husband are both overworked as it is. I really wonder what she's missing out on - not just in terms of socializing (although she still meets with friends), but instruction. Pushover grandma will not be an effective learning helper. When I last visited, within 30 seconds of my arrival, my mom asked me to help with a lesson. Fortunately, my niece is a bright student (she'll probably be able to find work as a coder when she's 15) and will probably survive, but is probably using much of this time just to play Fortnite or Minecraft.

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that this distance learning garbage doesn't work. Our school district has zero plans to re-open full time this year even if everyone gets vaccinated. My kids are definitely getting the short end of the stick and developing very bad work/study habits because of it.

tjc78

nyccarguy said:

fintail said:

Makes one wonder about the viability of homeschooling with that last bit, which has long been joked to have tenuous at best education quality and awkward social development. I think here in WA, many schools are open to in-person at least part-time, and special needs kids can go fulltime (my sister is a special ed teacher and has been working at school the whole time - she supports it, as school is by far the center of life for these kids). Maybe if vaccines could be prioritized for teachers and there'd be less ability for the rich to buy priority in some areas, things could open faster. Also might be reason to leave CA, too, unless one loves the weather or has an amazing job they are married to, there might be greener pastures (just please don't come to the PNW, we're full )

The college sports stuff is a bit different, IMO anyway, too much emphasis on that as a basis for scholarships. If he needs a scholarship, maybe his grades can help him, or family, or loans. Everyone else has to use those routes. (don't get me wrong, it stinks his dream might not be attainable in this growing dystopia).

abacomike said:

What these kids are missing in terms of learning basics as well as interpersonal relationships will never be made up in coming years. Truly pathetic.

I can tell you 1st hand that this distance learning garbage doesn't work. Our school district has zero plans to re-open full time this year even if everyone gets vaccinated. My kids are definitely getting the short end of the stick and developing very bad work/study habits because of it.

110% agree. It stinks! My son didn’t learn enough in K last year (remote learning not honed in at all) and now in a much better school district I feel he is a little behind.

They are going two days a week (when not snowing) so it’s a start. I really hope they can go FT next year.

My mom is really helping and we check in on him throughout the day. During dinner we try and see what he learned for the day and quiz him.

stickguy

I’d be real surprised if the new school year in September wasn’t normal, at least in terms of being in person.

jmonroe1

tjc78 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

It could be done. There could also be a sensor in the filler neck that could immediately notify the idiot.. err operator that they are putting the wrong fuel in.

I sure hope we don’t have to dump this down to the point we have to add another nanny to our cars just to get it gassed up.

I find it very amusing that folks with piddily brains can figure out all the widgets on their cell phones but wouldn’t be able figure out how to fiddle a “sailor-proof” nozzle into a cars filler tube. What the hell is this world coming to anyhow?

jmonroe

tjc78

jmonroe1 said:

tjc78 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

It could be done. There could also be a sensor in the filler neck that could immediately notify the idiot.. err operator that they are putting the wrong fuel in.

I sure hope we don’t have to dump this down to the point we have to add another nanny to our cars just to get it gassed up.

I find it very amusing that folks with piddily brains can figure out all the widgets on their cell phones but wouldn’t be able figure out how to fiddle a “sailor-proof” nozzle into a cars filler tube. What the hell is this world coming to anyhow?

jmonroe

We have warnings on coffee that it’s hot ..... everything gets dumbed down today

nyccarguy

fintail said:

I believe it. I have a 10 year old niece, in a district now back to in-person instruction, on some hybrid model, but also allowing the option of remote. She wanted to stay remote, and my sister allowed it for some reason, probably because my mom is there helping/providing free childcare, and my sister and her husband are both overworked as it is. I really wonder what she's missing out on - not just in terms of socializing (although she still meets with friends), but instruction. Pushover grandma will not be an effective learning helper. When I last visited, within 30 seconds of my arrival, my mom asked me to help with a lesson. Fortunately, my niece is a bright student (she'll probably be able to find work as a coder when she's 15) and will probably survive, but is probably using much of this time just to play Fortnite or Minecraft.

nyccarguy said:

I can tell you 1st hand that this distance learning garbage doesn't work. Our school district has zero plans to re-open full time this year even if everyone gets vaccinated. My kids are definitely getting the short end of the stick and developing very bad work/study habits because of it.

Sounds like what goes on in my house. My wife and I both work out of the home. My 11 year old son is a bright student. He rushes through his work to play fortnite with his friends. Most days my wife hides the X-Box remote until he gets down.

My 14 year old has been diagnosed with ADHD, and now suffers from depression due to a concussion he got playing hockey on 11/7/2020. The virtual learning doesn't work for him. He gets distracted very easily. He'll start an assignment on the computer, get stuck on a question, and then start watching You Tube videos or playing Zombs on the computer when he is supposed to be working.

My 9 year old daughter who is probably the smartest of all my kids sees her brothers not doing their work to the best of their abilities and thinks it is ok to do the same.

pensfan83

In our district the middle school and high school are on a hybrid model while K-5 are in school 5 days/week. We are also fully supportive of in person instruction and aside from snow days and a week in December it's worked well. There are options for remote instruction if desired but I will echo what others have said, I do not believe remote learning is an acceptable substitute for in person instruction.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

As others have mentioned the nozzles are different sizes but the smaller one will always fit in the larger opening. The handles are also different colors and they are marked “diesel” and gasoline. You have to be deaf to not notice the distinctive idle of a diesel.

Employees have destroyed a lot more than $10k worth of equipment. I bet Home Depot has similar horror stories and they both drug test and give hires a psych test.

It’s tough to hire perfect people for min. wage.

https://youtu.be/1dr3eJH813o

stickguy

Diesel drivers tend to be much more aware of what they are doing. That’s why diesel nozzle won’t fit in a gas car.

But no matter how hard you try, you can’t cure stupid.

Of course, nothing a driver can do if it’s the tanker guy that screwed up.

fintail

I only have had one semi-close call. One day I filled up the fintail in the morning, and later in the afternoon returned to fill up the modern car (at the time a MB Bluetec). I got as far as pressing the gasoline button and reaching for the handle, fortunately, it clicked in my mind that it wasn't green, and I stopped.

In Europe, sometimes diesel rental cars have a sticker both in the car and near the fuel filler area reminding the driver of the fuel type.

Once, my brother filled up my mom's Camry with what was later found to be bad gas - tank had to be drained and fuel system flushed. Took a few months for the fuel company (I believe Mobil) to reimburse her, apparently the same thing happened to a couple dozen others. Car ran poorly for about 10 minutes then wouldn't start.

stickguy said:

Diesel drivers tend to be much more aware of what they are doing. That’s why diesel nozzle won’t fit in a gas car.

But no matter how hard you try, you can’t cure stupid.

Of course, nothing a driver can do if it’s the tanker guy that screwed up.

fintail

My sister and her husband both work outside the house - she's the special ed teacher, he works long hours in logistics for a large retailer. If it wasn't for my mom, they'd have to send my niece back to school, and hopefully will next school year anyway. Especially now that vaccines are rolling out, it has to eventually be time. It's probably many kids' dream to stay at home with grandma as the teacher, but I suspect it's not an ideal learning environment. I suspect many kids are faring far worse, and this will go down in history as a "lost" year or two. Caution was good, but with recent advancements, the slightest bit of normality should be on the horizon.

I get distracted a lot in WFH as I have some probable ADHD issues myself, but can usually find something else to do if a task loses my attention. My director has also been sympathetic of the awkwardness of starting a new role virtually (I started heading for 5 months ago, have only been to the office to pick up my computer, have met no co-workers in person). There's another position the firm is trying to fill, and apparently there's been kickback from applicants when they are told WFH isn't promised forever.

nyccarguy said:

Sounds like what goes on in my house. My wife and I both work out of the home. My 11 year old son is a bright student. He rushes through his work to play fortnite with his friends. Most days my wife hides the X-Box remote until he gets down.

My 14 year old has been diagnosed with ADHD, and now suffers from depression due to a concussion he got playing hockey on 11/7/2020. The virtual learning doesn't work for him. He gets distracted very easily. He'll start an assignment on the computer, get stuck on a question, and then start watching You Tube videos or playing Zombs on the computer when he is supposed to be working.

My 9 year old daughter who is probably the smartest of all my kids sees her brothers not doing their work to the best of their abilities and thinks it is ok to do the same.

stickguy

a lot of people really want to keep the WFH for good. I was already doing it, and have no desire to go back into an office. I would if a better job offer came my way, but won't ever be an issue at my current place (and given how little ambition I have these days to look, likely my last "real" job before retirement unless they do something stupid like go out of business).

I have read that there are actually some kids that are doing better from home. I think notably from schools in bad areas, or where the kid was being bullied or abused in some way. Not every kid finds school to be a great or safe place to be.

of course it will depend on individual circumstances (the kid, school support, and family)

sda

My wife started a new job at a new company late Feb last year. Other than picking up a computer so she can work from home she hasn't met anyone with the company. She interviewed by phone and hasn't meet anyone on her team, including upper management yet in person. They have done some zoom type meetings but that's all. I give her great credit as she has had minimal support and direction to learn her new very complicated and involved role. I doubt I would have done half as well.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

As others have mentioned the nozzles are different sizes but the smaller one will always fit in the larger opening. The handles are also different colors and they are marked “diesel” and gasoline. You have to be deaf to not notice the distinctive idle of a diesel.

Employees have destroyed a lot more than $10k worth of equipment. I bet Home Depot has similar horror stories and they both drug test and give hires a psych test.

It’s tough to hire perfect people for min. wage.

Apparently using the wrong gas happens to 1 in 7 people at some point in their lives. This is a mistake that can happen fairly easy let us say if someone is using someone else's diesel car, and they decide they need gas but weren't given instructions for some reason.

I remember on a Judge Judy the kid went to get gas for a Mercedes.....the car was a diesel car, and the attendant filled the diesel MB with gasoline. Attendant said he wasn't told, but he was found guilty since he is supposedly the expert at filling up cars with fuel.....minimum wage or not.

pensfan83

There's a growing sentiment my business unit may go to a permanent remote arrangement within the next few months in lieu of working on a return to the office. My wife's less likely to stay remote and I'm not sure I'm sold on 100% remote either. We shall see.

If we do go fully remote one of my peers wants to stretch her team across the continental US, which I think is a horrible idea. I'm open to remote workers but would prefer they be located in a market where there is enough office space to bring people in a few times a year for staff meetings, yearly reviews, etc. I don't want people in Idaho, Montana, etc. that I'll never meet in person.

sda

pensfan83 said:

There's a growing sentiment my business unit may go to a permanent remote arrangement within the next few months in lieu of working on a return to the office. My wife's less likely to stay remote and I'm not sure I'm sold on 100% remote either. We shall see.

If we do go fully remote one of my peers wants to stretch her team across the continental US, which I think is a horrible idea. I'm open to remote workers but would prefer they be located in a market where there is enough office space to bring people in a few times a year for staff meetings, yearly reviews, etc. I don't want people in Idaho, Montana, etc. that I'll never meet in person.

Having the team spread out, especially in different time zones is a real challenge. A lot of my wife's team is on the west coast while we are on the east coast. It makes for a lot meetings at lunch time or later and many late in the day beyond 6pm.

Michaell

pensfan83 said:

There's a growing sentiment my business unit may go to a permanent remote arrangement within the next few months in lieu of working on a return to the office. My wife's less likely to stay remote and I'm not sure I'm sold on 100% remote either. We shall see.

If we do go fully remote one of my peers wants to stretch her team across the continental US, which I think is a horrible idea. I'm open to remote workers but would prefer they be located in a market where there is enough office space to bring people in a few times a year for staff meetings, yearly reviews, etc. I don't want people in Idaho, Montana, etc. that I'll never meet in person.

Funny - when I joined my current company, the team I worked with was spread out all over.

Even with the cutbacks, I've got one here in Denver, one in San Antonio, one in Mexico City and one in the greater Boston area.

I've been lucky to meet all of them except the Boston person.

But, I do see your point - haven't had many opportunities to get together as a team.

And, just recently, we reformed as a global org so now my manager is in the UK. I've met her once, a couple of years ago at our conference in Las Vegas - we had a one day managers meeting for my group after the show was over.

snakeweasel

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

For every invention or new idea....there are the naysayers who say it won't work. I am sure when Bezos said I am going to have a warehouse and sell everything possible and I am going to deliver it to the persons home for free the next day.....people said what a ridiculous idea, that will never work!

I wonder how many people said something like that as their last words.

Well it's like this, if you're filling up by putting a round tube into another round tube you have a couple of advantages. First it's easier to put a round peg into a slightly larger round hole than it is for any other shape. This means that it's easier to put the nozzle in and take it out. Second being round means that it can spin around freely. Lets say that the set up is putting a square nozzle into a square filler tube and while you are moving around the car to say finally wash those windows and you hit the handle of the nozzle it will not give way as a round system would causing you greater injury and/or damage to your car or the gas pump nozzle.

imidazol97

The lady next door was put on WFH middle of last year. Now the company sold some of its large building complex for permanent WFH for many of those folks. (Lexus Nexis.)

The big controversy here, is the effect of that on the real estate market for offices. AND about if the cities that used to justify charging earnings/income tax to those living outside their taxing unit but working in the political unit can still charge earnings tax when the people are not working within their territory just because the company still has an office there.

Story gets a little more complicated but popcorn time. Lawsuits and tax refund time is here.

ab348

I had lunch today with a former colleague from before I retired. He is a V-P there now and has always been a very solid, down to earth guy. We got to talking about the new WFH/Zoom/Teams world they are now living in. His job is now taking care of the retail network facilities so he is on the road quite a bit regardless. But for months he was not permitted to return to the office along with most others, and so was working from home until recently. His wife is a teacher so she does the same. He says it was tough on both of them, one in a downstairs "office", one upstairs. He noted how they had to force each other to take breaks, how the culture of work was something he missed along with the informal communication/socializing that normally took place, and the lack of visibility to both direct reports and those reporting to him. He was glad to be back in an office environment.

stickguy

some people adapt better than others. If you choose to do it, and set it up right, can work just fine.

stickguy

imidazol97 said:

The lady next door was put on WFH middle of last year. Now the company sold some of its large building complex for permanent WFH for many of those folks. (Lexus Nexis.)

The big controversy here, is the effect of that on the real estate market for offices. AND about if the cities that used to justify charging earnings/income tax to those living outside their taxing unit but working in the political unit can still charge earnings tax when the people are not working within their territory just because the company still has an office there.

Story gets a little more complicated but popcorn time. Lawsuits and tax refund time is here.

commercial real estate is going to be a complete mess, especially as lease renewals come due and companies don't need as much space. Fighting over taxes will be fun.

where your work assignment is can be an issue. I live near Philly, and they have a wage tax. My office is in NJ. As long as you are designated in that office, you are taxed based on that (regardless of where you actually spend your time). But, once you get designated officially WFH, your location changes to your home address. I work with some people that are technically assigned to the NJ office but live in Philly. They want to hang onto that as long as possible, even though they have worked from home for years, because once the company changes it in their records, Philly will start hitting them for wage tax on top of income taxes.

snakeweasel

tjc78 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

It could be done. There could also be a sensor in the filler neck that could immediately notify the idiot.. err operator that they are putting the wrong fuel in.

Please explain how in the world will a sensor in the filler neck be able to notify the idiot that he is putting in the wrong fuel when the fuel type is clearly labeled on the button you push to select the fuel type if not also on or near the nozzle to be used and that doesn't alert them. Look at the picture below, even if you put the gas nozzle in your vehicle you should be able to push the Diesel button to start fueling. And in that case it wouldn't work as the pump won't pump gas if you push diesel. Just remember you can get to the point where you can't save someone from themselves. After that all you can do is upload the results to YouTube.

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

a lot of people really want to keep the WFH for good. I was already doing it, and have no desire to go back into an office. I would if a better job offer came my way, but won't ever be an issue at my current place (and given how little ambition I have these days to look, likely my last "real" job before retirement unless they do something stupid like go out of business).

I have read that there are actually some kids that are doing better from home. I think notably from schools in bad areas, or where the kid was being bullied or abused in some way. Not every kid finds school to be a great or safe place to be.

of course it will depend on individual circumstances (the kid, school support, and family)

I can't wait to get back to the office on a regular basis, I just don't like having my main work space in my home. I want home and work separated. That being said one day or so a week at home would be OK but not anywhere near full time.

stickguy

my office is set up in the guest room. So I only see it if I want to see it. It would be a problem if we had a small place and I had to have it on the dining room table, or even worse, in my bedroom. A dedicated space IMO is key to a successful experience.

That and not caring all that much about your job!

explorerx4

@imidazol97,
Company I used to work for was owned by Lexis Nexis for several years.

snakeweasel

stickguy said:

my office is set up in the guest room. So I only see it if I want to see it. It would be a problem if we had a small place and I had to have it on the dining room table, or even worse, in my bedroom. A dedicated space IMO is key to a successful experience.

That and not caring all that much about your job!

For me there is something about walking out of the building that turns of some switch in my mind and it never goes back to work until I walk back through the door. It's something I am not getting now as leaving work means I am still in the same building.

omarman

Roses. Cars. Panic. Panic?

sda

My wife and I are wfh. My daughter, a freshman in college is attending class from her bedroom, virtually. I can’t wait until she can have the college experience by attending class on site. On the other hand my wife and I love wfh. My wife works from our study. I go upstairs to the bonus room and work from there. At day end, I descend the stairs, “honey I’m home!”

oldfarmer50

Michaell said:

pensfan83 said:

There's a growing sentiment my business unit may go to a permanent remote arrangement within the next few months in lieu of working on a return to the office. My wife's less likely to stay remote and I'm not sure I'm sold on 100% remote either. We shall see.

If we do go fully remote one of my peers wants to stretch her team across the continental US, which I think is a horrible idea. I'm open to remote workers but would prefer they be located in a market where there is enough office space to bring people in a few times a year for staff meetings, yearly reviews, etc. I don't want people in Idaho, Montana, etc. that I'll never meet in person.

Funny - when I joined my current company, the team I worked with was spread out all over.

Even with the cutbacks, I've got one here in Denver, one in San Antonio, one in Mexico City and one in the greater Boston area.

I've been lucky to meet all of them except the Boston person.

But, I do see your point - haven't had many opportunities to get together as a team.

And, just recently, we reformed as a global org so now my manager is in the UK. I've met her once, a couple of years ago at our conference in Las Vegas - we had a one day managers meeting for my group after the show was over.

You know, now that I think of it, I never had a job where I had to go to an office other than to check in for work. The only job that was in a specified spot was making sandwiches when I was in college. Everything else was on the road, even my paper routes.

I guess I’m kind of anti-social.

fintail

I like my commute - bed to shower to kitchen to desk. No shoes. On non-videoconference days, I just wear old t-shirts etc. My desk is in the 2nd bedroom, so when I am not in that room, I'm not at work,

Still, if I had to go in once or twice a week, I probably wouldn't complain. I've never considered myself a social butterfly, but it'd be cool to meet a few people. Fortunately, my boss likes me and likes to chat, we have meetings at least every other day, so there's that.

sda said:

My wife and I are wfh. My daughter, a freshman in college is attending class from her bedroom, virtually. I can’t wait until my daughter can have the college experience by attending class there. On the other hand my wife and I love wfh. My wife works from our study. I go upstairs to the bonus room and work from there. At day end, I descend the stairs, “honey I’m home!”

fintail

Class A CRE is going to be hit, probably higher class apartments as well. I know rents in Seattle proper along with SF Bay area fell something like ~20%, these are areas with legit affordable housing issues in significant ways caused by speculator developers focusing volume on the upper end of the market. Breaks my heart, it really does. Tons of new apartment construction where I am now, as the area is growing, but at least much of it appears to be normal housing stock and not faux-fancy (although still stinks for those who were here for awhile, as rents and housing prices have in some cases doubled in 5 years). My prior employer was also halfway though a healthy 9 figure campus renovation when 'rona hit - oops. Tons of recent office highrises in Seattle/Bellevue that might not be used for a long time . Maybe convert them to housing.

No state income tax here, at least for now.

stickguy said:

commercial real estate is going to be a complete mess, especially as lease renewals come due and companies don't need as much space. Fighting over taxes will be fun.

where your work assignment is can be an issue. I live near Philly, and they have a wage tax. My office is in NJ. As long as you are designated in that office, you are taxed based on that (regardless of where you actually spend your time). But, once you get designated officially WFH, your location changes to your home address. I work with some people that are technically assigned to the NJ office but live in Philly. They want to hang onto that as long as possible, even though they have worked from home for years, because once the company changes it in their records, Philly will start hitting them for wage tax on top of income taxes.

driver100

stickguy said:

some people adapt better than others. If you choose to do it, and set it up right, can work just fine.

If you work at home you should get dressed and basically try to keep regular working hours. I worked from home for 16 years...had a room set up as an office....nice tax break.
I liked it, but you have to be disciplined and family and friends have to know that is your WORK space.
It's all what you get used to.
We had sales meetings twice a year so I got to see the other reps then, 4 in Canada and about 20 U.S. reps.
What I really liked was - No Office Politics to worry about.

driver100

@snakeweasel Check youtube to see people try to put gas in their Tesla;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j52odgkRxDs

oldfarmer50

omarman said:

Roses. Cars. Panic. Panic?

Wow! Are people paranoid or what.

laurasdada

Costco PUG today, 2.52/gallon. Same as a week ago.
I'm WFH since 3/20 and plan to remain so. My company is pivoting to this arrangement, on a personal choice basis. Unless your position requires you to be on prem.

andres3

snakeweasel said:

qbrozen said:

explorerx4 said:

roadburner is going to have a field day with this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoBg9vmKbz0

Soooo... what’s going on there? It is like an unsanctioned event of some sort? And how is it there always seems to be a motorcycle going in the other direction every time somebody crosses to oncoming traffic? Lol.

Was there a car that didn't cross over the double yellow line?

As for what was going on, maybe just people going at a good place to photograph cars going around a tight curve. There is a spot that I like to go that sometimes there are people photographing traffic on a tight curve. It's a good place to capture bikes on a good lean.

I saw a green car that wins the award for best driver that didn't go over the double yellows.

andres3

My daughter is in a "Spanish Immersion" program. When I mentioned that distance "online" learning takes out the immersion, I just basically got shrugs from the San Diego School District.

It's bad enough for younger kids, but an immersion program really needs the immersion. Of course, I don't think the Parent's vote matters much to the stiffs in the School District.

tjc78

I love WFH. Like @driver100 mentioned we keep a schedule. Get up, shower and get dressed, eat breakfast and in our offices by 8. We usually eat lunch around 12 if we don’t have meetings and then knock off around 5/5:30. I usually do a few more things after cleaning up dinner and call it a night. A few nights a week my wife has 9PM calls with overseas partners.

It does help we each have a dedicated space. Wife is setup in a spare bedroom upstairs, I’m in a room in the basement. It was called an exercise room, but it’s basically bedroom sized without a closet.

I’m permanently WFH, wife may have to return some day at least a few days a week.

ab348

Longish piece on the CBC site about the Hyundai/Kia engine problems. They seem to have handled this quite badly given the scope of the problem.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/marketplace-car-recall-investigation-1.5918348?fbclid=IwAR39dmEmZUlex5VpOhXngTwV7WXFrlVUHgXWWVBeMblraO2zq_4uwLkAoA4

tjc78

snakeweasel said:

tjc78 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

snakeweasel said:

driver100 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

More shenanigans from the old guys.

The same team that wrecked the company car wash may have destroyed a new diesel pick up. Seems one of them filled it with gas instead of diesel. Thanks to the marvels of modern computer safety systems the truck wouldn’t start, probably because the anti-knock sensor detected something was amiss. It had to be towed away.

Don't they give some kind of I.Q. Test to new employees?
This could easily be a $10000 repair.
Evidently, this happens more often than anyone might think.
Why oh why, don't they make the filler tank and the nozzle on the gas and diesel pump so they don't fit into each other....even I can figure that they should do that?

Well the diesel fuel nozzle is larger than the gas one so it won't fit in the fuel door of a gas car. But the gas filler nozzle will fit in the diesel vehicle since it is smaller. The only other solution would be to make them different shapes but then they would be harder to get it in the cars filler neck and people will complain about that.

Diesel could be square or have wings on the side of it so you can't jam it into a gasser but fits a diesel.
This is easily solvable.....................

As I said before, that would require the diesel nozzle to be perfectly aligned with the vehicles filler neck resulting in people fiddling with the nozzle to get it to fit. This fiddling could also cause damage to the nozzle as well as the vehicles filler neck.

It could be done. There could also be a sensor in the filler neck that could immediately notify the idiot.. err operator that they are putting the wrong fuel in.

Please explain how in the world will a sensor in the filler neck be able to notify the idiot that he is putting in the wrong fuel when the fuel type is clearly labeled on the button you push to select the fuel type if not also on or near the nozzle to be used and that doesn't alert them. Look at the picture below, even if you put the gas nozzle in your vehicle you should be able to push the Diesel button to start fueling. And in that case it wouldn't work as the pump won't pump gas if you push diesel. Just remember you can get to the point where you can't save someone from themselves. After that all you can do is upload the results to YouTube.

I’m no scientist but I’m sure there enough of a chemical difference (PH, etc??) that a sensor could pick up on.

oldfarmer50

driver100 said:

stickguy said:

some people adapt better than others. If you choose to do it, and set it up right, can work just fine.

If you work at home you should get dressed and basically try to keep regular working hours. I worked from home for 16 years...had a room set up as an office....nice tax break.
I liked it, but you have to be disciplined and family and friends have to know that is your WORK space.
It's all what you get used to.
We had sales meetings twice a year so I got to see the other reps then, 4 in Canada and about 20 U.S. reps.
What I really liked was - No Office Politics to worry about.

I bet you never had to worry about someone crashing your “office”.

driver100

@tjc78 ....and another thing is it would be fairly easy for someone who isn't knowledgeable to press a button.....maybe they think "Diesel" has extra power. I bet a fairly large percentage of people don't know what 87. 89 93 mean.....remember there are several youtubes with people try to put gas into their Prius.

driver100

oldfarmer50 said:

driver100 said:

stickguy said:

some people adapt better than others. If you choose to do it, and set it up right, can work just fine.

If you work at home you should get dressed and basically try to keep regular working hours. I worked from home for 16 years...had a room set up as an office....nice tax break.
I liked it, but you have to be disciplined and family and friends have to know that is your WORK space.
It's all what you get used to.
We had sales meetings twice a year so I got to see the other reps then, 4 in Canada and about 20 U.S. reps.
What I really liked was - No Office Politics to worry about.

I bet you never had to worry about someone crashing your “office”.

Do you mean like your car is your office?